Arguably, traditions with "metta" meditation treat this issue by enforcing the connection between people. Isolated meditators who make progress too quickly can

Arguably, traditions with "metta" meditation treat this issue by enforcing the connection between people. Isolated meditators who make progress too quickly can disconnect from people and without some form of metta or some guide from an experience teacher they may find themselves in a tricky spot. Some people just advance too quickly into a more equanimous state than others. That's not depression, its progress and what many seek out when learning meditation or when they follow a spiritual path. You can't act surprised when you achieve an equanimous mind and you aren't interested in the things you were before. I'm a bit like this. I don't crave bad TV shows, hollywood junk, conflict, drama, money, trying to be seen a very smart/successful, etc like I used to. I certainly still fail at this, but there's probably a practical limit here considering my lifestyle. I'm not depressed, its just I quickly outgrew what those in my peer group valued and that has left me with a social hole in my life. I just deal with it. I absolutely do not want to go back to how I was, even if the previous me was "more fun." I'm a very different person than I was pre-meditation/pre-whatever. I don't see that as a problem. I think its dangerous to just dismiss everything you don't understand as mental illness. Not too long ago we were doing this with the gay community, non-neurotypicals, and those from cultures with different values. Its also crazy that Western culture can call anyone not "having fun" all the time depressed. A more quiet and contemplative life shouldn't be seen as some horrible pathological condition. In a perfect world, people like that should be valued, not dismissed, but unfortunately that's not the world we live in.